More Than A Feeling
by ghostwritermuse
Summary: A female hunter crosses paths with the Winchesters.  Entangling her life in theres, her beliefs and past come to be challenged, is she what she always believed or is there more to her?  Will the past repeat itself of is there something to be found to stop
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **Gen fic: More Than a Feeling Chapter 1: Don't Look Back  
**Author**: Ghostwritermuse  
**Chapter Word Count:** 3,306  
**Chacaters/Pairings: **Dean, Sam, OFC (Grace)

**Rating: **PG-13 (though later chapters may change upward)

**Beta(s):** I owe so much to the wonderful 9thof9 LJ for all her coaching and help, as well as tigriswolf LJ for her awesome help with the tense abuse that I just can't seem to stop. Any mistakes you find are mine, I really do try not to touch it once I've had the final approval, really I do :)

**Feedback:** Absolutely, I've been writing for some time even though this is my first time posting in the Supernatural fandom. I live and breathe for concrit.

**Disclaimer:** The only that belongs to me is my imagination, the rest belongs to Warner Bros and Eric Kripke! No harm or ownership intended by writing this.

**Spoilers/Warnings:** Set Post Season 2, so anything up to and including AHBL pt2. Also this story is told from the POV an original female character.

**A/N:** I started a version of this shortly before Folsom Prison Blues then put it down, only come back to it after AHBL knowing this was the way I needed to go. I find myself amused over and over as the summer has gone by with the revelations about next season as I've had mine for several months you, damn you Kripke

**Summary:** A female hunter crosses paths with the Winchesters. Entangling her life in theres, her beliefs and past come to be challenged, is she what she always believed or is there more to her? Will the past repeat itself of is there something to be found to stop it? The War is here and the demons are raging, will anyone survive this.

**Chpt. Summary/Notes:** Chapter 1 is set in that empty time after 2.20 What Is and What Should Never Be but before All Hell Breaks Loose Pt1. Grace meets the Winchesters and its not exactly the best of encounters.

* * *

_A new day is breakin'  
Its been too long since I felt this way  
I don't mind where I get taken  
The road is callin'  
Today is the day  
-Don't Look Back, Boston_

**Harvelle's Roadhouse, Nebraska**  
Grace consulted the map again and sighed. _This still doesn't make any sense. What am I missing?_ she thought. Tapping her fingers on the map, she brushed her dark bangs from her eyes and looked over the notes next to her once more, before scanning back over the map.

February 82 - Guthrie OK  
April 82 - Peoria, Illinois  
June 82 - Providence, Rhode Island  
June 82 – New Platz, New York  
August 82 - Sacramento, CA  
August 82 - Manning, CO  
Oct 82 - Lawrence, KS  
Oct 82 - Defiance, OH

_Nope, still doesn't make any sense. What were they doing? What did they see that I'm not? These are all over the map, for the most part—I just don't get it! _

"You like anything else to drink?" a slightly rough-voiced woman asked.

Grace looked up, instinctively dropping her hands over the map protectively. "I'm good, thanks." She smiled, looking at the half-emptied bottle of beer and back to the bartender.

"You don't need to worry here; we all," she nodded her head at the papers, "know about that."

It took Grace a long moment of fear and two more of slow calming breaths to realize the bartender was talking in general and not specifically about her research. Grace gave a small, tight smile before slowly looking around the bar. It had been just what she was looking for when she stumbled across it earlier. Slightly off the path, a bit shady and likely to let her get lost in the corner while she worked on her notes and thoughts with little hassle to hit the drink minimum. For the most part, it had lived up to her expectations: the clientele were rough and ready, after a bit of drinking, for a fight - but it was a bit quieter, too, tension underlying conversations and movements. But then, these days, everyone was a bit more on edge, though few really knew why.

"Name's Ellen." The bartender leaned slightly toward her, propping her hip against the bar, drawing Grace back from her thoughts.

"Grace," she replied slowly as the conversation levels around her dropped just slightly.

"You look like you're wrestling a bit of a problem there. Anything you might want help with? We have all sorts of," she paused and gave a smoky laugh, "experts around here."

Grace stared at her a moment in surprise. A complete stranger was asking to look at her work and talking to her like she had a clue. "Wh- what?"

Ellen laughed again. "Honey, we all have something we're working on here. We share when we're comfortable, of course, and help each other - pass info around, that sort of thing." Grace just continued to stare in shock at Ellen. "Honey, I figured you knew that when you came in and set up shop here." She paused and shook her head. "You didn't, huh? Just figured you'd found a spot to blend in the shadows for a few hours and go over your notes." She nodded out toward the general room. "Pretty much like them."

Grace finally tore her eyes from the bartender and quickly scanned the room, surprised at what she now saw. Groups of two, three and sometimes four people huddled around the room talking, but always with some bits of paper or folders, even, sitting nearby while they played cards, drank, and talked. Turning back to the bar, Grace spotted two men across from her, watching; Grace knew they were paying close attention—_Almost guarding,_ she thought.

Dismissing them, Grace looked at Ellen again, still stunned. Swallowing, Grace shook her head and gave a half smile. "Guess I found the right place, huh?" That brought a chuckle from Ellen who broke the growing tension around them, and Grace let out a breath.

"So, what's your thing?" Ellen asked, leaning against the bar casually, wiping out the inside of one glass before moving to the next. At the confused frown on Grace's face Ellen nodded out toward the bar. "Joe over there," she pointed to a man with his back to the wall playing cards with another man, "does poltergeists and wandering spirits; Steve's more interested in the un-dead: vampires, zombies, and the odd possession."

A cough behind her brought a smile from Ellen as she moved slightly to include the two men at the bar into the conversation. "Sam and Dean here are more your _average_ demon chasers."

"We aren't your average anything," the one who Ellen had nodded to as Dean replied with a wink and smirk.

"Reaper clean-up," Grace said with wide eyes as she tried to take in all of what was going on around her. Three pairs of eyes bored into her, disbelief and surprise written clearly on their faces.

"What?" Ellen finally managed with a frown.

Grace blinked at them and calmly repeated herself. "Reaper cleanup." After a pause, she realized they had no idea what she was talking about. "Well, you see, a reaper is –"

"A harbinger of death. Yeah, we know what a reaper is," Dean cut in, resting his arms on the bar. "We also know Reapers can't be killed, so what's left to clean up exactly?"

Grace's face lit up with a smile for a moment and she looked at the three tense people before shaking her head. "Well, see, that's not entirely true, but—" She raised a hand to forestall Dean's comments before continuing, "That's not what I mean, either. I meant, I clean what reapers leave behind or miss." She smiled brightly at them, but it turned slowly to a frown at the sudden defensive shift of the two men opposite her.

Ellen pulled her attention away, though, with a small cough. "I still don't think I understand what you do, honey."

"Oh, well, as I was saying: I clean up after reapers, moving on restless spirits and souls that are left behind because the reaper either missed them or couldn't get them to move on. Or in some cases, the reaper never made it to them at their death. I mean, really, with the small number of reapers, it's not all that surprising that they'll miss something. Or a lot," she mumbled under her breath before shaking her head and smiling again.

"Ghosts? You just kill ghosts," Dean interrupted, a dismissive tone in his voice.

"Usually they aren't even that definite. Mostly they're more like energy at the point that I arrive. But, for whatever reason, they cause problems for those living around them. That's where I come in." Grace waved her hands slightly down toward herself.

Dean gave a snort that spoke volumes on his thoughts about her usefulness and what she's just said. Grace's eyes narrowed as she fought the need to defend her craft. "Excuse me, my family has been doing this for over a century, and while it might not be as glamorous or exciting as 'demon chasing,' it serves a necessary purpose and isn't really as easy as you'd think!" Grace glared at Dean, tapping her fingers on the bar to emphasize her point and agitation.

"You'll have to excuse my brother," the other one, Sam said, interrupting their staring contest with his slow drawl. "He can be an ass."

Grace turned to him slowly and blinked in surprise. Her entire body tensed at the rush of energy that came over her before dropping her eyes to the bar, taking a slow breath. _Whoa!_ she thought, _what the hell was that!_

Blinking twice before she looked back up, Grace put a slight smile on her face and looked at Sam, ignoring Dean completely. "Excuse me—that was rude."

"You said your family's been doing this for a long time?" Ellen interrupted again. "I've been in these circles a while; I know most of 'em out there. What's your family name?"

Grace looked at her a moment and obviously debated saying any more before giving in. "Wesson," she finally said quietly.

"Wesson." Ellen turned that around in her head a couple times. "Can't put a face to that name, but why's it sound so familiar?"

Grace simply stared back, almost ready to let it pass, but something told her to trust them. "You have a revolver? Semi-automatic?"

"Yeah." Ellen looked at her oddly.

"Then you've probably seen my name."

"Smith and Wesson!" Sam said with a dark laugh.

"Yeah, that Wesson." Grace flushed as she looked at the two laughing men.

"What's so funny?" she finally asked with narrowed eyes.

"Winchester." Sam pointed at himself then Dean.

A smile quirked Grace's lips and she looked down, shaking her head. "Oh, that _is_ funny."

Suddenly Grace's pocket vibrated and she nearly jumped before reaching in and pulling out her phone. Flipping it open, she quickly read the text message.

_Ohio – Simple Clean  
3 days – call me. - T_

With a smile, she shut the phone; before she could do anything else, Ellen pointed at the map. "What's so important about Lawrence?" Both men's demeanour changed and they leaned forward which caused Grace to frown in confusion.

"You have Lawrence, Kansas, circled there." Ellen's voice hinted at her suspicion and uncertainty once more.

Grace looked down and then back up with a closed expression. "It's nothing."

"Lawrence, Kansas, isn't nothing," Dean growled.

A bit surprised by the sudden return of hostility, Grace continued frowning and reached to gather her things. "Look, I don't know what your problem is, and—not that it's _any_ of your business—but these are the cases my parents worked the year before they died." She tapped the map and continued to throw things into her bag after a moment. "I appreciate the offer of assistance with this, but, really—I don't have anything to share, and right now I'm not even sure what this means. I just know that there's something I'm missing. I _will_ figure it out though and I'll do it on my own, _thank you_." She growled the last part as she put the rest of her things, including the map into her bag.

Sam placed a hand on Dean's arm and shook his head. "Look, this may sound crazy, but…" He looked over at Grace, slightly pleading. "Dean and I are from Lawrence. Considering the things we've dealt with in the past, we're interested in anything and everything that pops up on the radar about Lawrence. To us, it _is_ a big deal," he finished quietly.

Grace rubbed her temples and looked around the room carefully; things seemed good and Sam was sincere, again she had the feeling that she could trust these people. Dropping back onto her stool, she nodded her agreement. "Really, I'm not sure there is much of anything here." Grace began to fiddle with the map as the brothers stood and moved around to her side of the bar. She watched uncomfortably as they took a spot on either side of her looking over her shoulder at the map on the counter. Shifting she tried to find a space to squeeze out from between them before finally pulling herself and the map out with a glare and moving to the side of Sam. "Like I said, these are the cases my parents were working before they died. I've looked for any connections, but nothing's coming to me." She threw her hands up.

Dean and Sam leaned closer once more to study the map. As Dean looked down, he froze. "Sam."

"I see it," Sam answered tersely.

"See what?" Grace leaned toward them, surprised, looking back and forth between the silently-communicating men.

"Hello! What do you see?" Grace smacked her palm down on the map.

Sam looked at her slowly. "What were you parents working on when they died?"

"What do you see?" Grace fired back. Something uncomfortable settled in her stomach as she watched them. Sam just continued to look at her, so she answered, "I don't know exactly. They never really put it in their journals. All I know is that it was important and old." Grace frowned, trying to think of exactly what her parents had written. "It's really frustrating because they were always so incredibly detailed about their work, except this once." Grace looked questioningly at Sam. "I also know," she paused dropping her voice, "that it killed them." Taking a breath, she let it out slowly. "Whatever they were working on killed them; I just don't know what it was. They died in a fire in Arizona."

Sam's eyes went wide and he shot a look at Dean before turning back to her. "How old were you?"

Grace frowned again. "I was around a year and half—no, wait, I was coming to my second birthday."

Sam's shoulders dropped at that. "Never mind then."

Grace leaned back, confused by the questions. Looking at Sam closely, she tried to read what was going on but just got more confused. Shaking her head she looked over at Dean, who continued to study the map and notes.

"Doubt she'd be alive right now if she was one, Sammy."

Grace's eyes narrowed and she started to roll up the map. "All right, I've shared; it's your turn now."

Sam looked up. "Well…" He paused, looking around, and then slid himself closer taking the map from her hands and meeting Dean's eyes with silent instructions to move closer as well, before continuing. "It's a really long story but basically, Dean and I have been after a particular demon for a long time. This demon targeted certain families for attack and he sometimes used fire to get rid of those who got in his way."

Sam looked down at the map and pointed. "Lawrence—that's our family. Saginaw is Max's family. Peoria's Ava and Guthrie is Andy." After a moment, he said, "These places stand out to us. The dates are off, though." He frowned.

Grace leaned over and caught Sam's eye, confused by his comments. "So what are these, people you've hunted then?"

Sam shook his head, glancing to Dean a moment before looking back. "They all were attacked by a demon we think, well I guess that's not entirely true, some were attacked, others are just 'gifted kids', but these dates are all too early for the kids."

"You were attacked by a demon?" Grace looked at him, stunned, and then leaned forward, studying him closer. It clicked, and she leaned back, widening of her eyes. Looking over at Dean, it was like she was hit again.

The brothers shared a look before turning back to her. "What?" they asked in unison.

Grace waved her hand at them as she looked up at the ceiling, cursing herself. It had been a long time since she had been that obvious. "It explains some things, Sam. Well, you too, Dean, but I wasn't looking since it's really not something I'd expect in someone, well, living."

She stopped babbling at their looks and tried again. "Let me rephrase. I see energy around people: it's a gift that's run in my family for generations." She smiled reassuringly at them, or at least hoped she did.

"Sam, your energy is different from most people and I figured it was something but…" She shrugged, trailing off. "Anyway, I've run into a few people here and there with similar patterns, so it's not the first time I'd seen it. I didn't think much of it until you said that."

The men stared at her a long moment until Dean laughed sharply. "You see auras? Read tea leaves and crystal balls, too?" he finished snidely and rolled his eyes.

Grace turned her eyes slowly toward him, counting to ten and holding tightly to the reigns of her patience. "At least I haven't been marked by death," she looked around him, "two times."

The momentary surprise and pain that appeared in Dean's eyes made her feel guilty. "I'm sorry. That was uncalled for," she said quietly and dropped her eyes to the bar a moment.

"Look, whatever. We all have things that we can do that others can't, or _won't_ believe in. That's the way life works," she said with a shrug and then glanced back up at them. "The point is, I can do what I can do and I see what I see and that's that. By the way, Dean, I'm not in the habit of correcting mistakes, just cleaning up after sloppy reapers, so you can stop worrying that I'm about to attack you or something," she told him with a smirk, and rolled her eyes as Dean bristled.

"You said you've seen others with energy like mine—what'd you mean?" Sam interrupted.

Grace looked over at him and frowned. "Well, I've seen a few people over the years—they have different energy. Don't ask me what that means; I've never been able to explain it to anyone who can't see what I see, so there's no point in trying now. It's just intense and darker." She threw up her hands with an exasperated sigh. "And, no, darker _doesn't_ mean evil," she said as Sam opened his mouth. "If I had a nickel for every time someone even thought that… it's just an expression to give to someone who can't see what I see so they have something to connect it with. That's all." She waved her hands around. "You're just much more than, say," she stopped and looked over the bar towards Ellen who was serving a drink, "Ellen over there. She's soft, muted—grief, most likely. Heartache and hardship do that to a person. It softens them around the edges," she explained in a slightly lilting voice. Drawing her eyes back to the Winchesters, she continued, "You however Sam, are sometimes nearly blinding. Mind calming down a bit there?" she lightly joked.

"So why does that, brightness, darkness, whatever make you think that I was attacked? Were these other people attacked?" he demanded, shifting a little closer and dropping his voice.

Grace considered his words for a moment and then sighed. "In one case I'm quite sure of the demon attack. In another I suspected it, what happened with the two brothers just lends itself to that theory." Grace paused for another moment looking around them casually before turning back to Sam. "I really don't think this discussion here is a good idea, Sam, nor would it be a good idea to give an energy reading here and now." Grace slipped back slightly from him as she continued, "besides, all the stuff going on around us, it just interferes and makes it much more difficult to get a true reading." Grace looked away from Sam, shuffling her papers again and beginning to put them away.

Dean reached forward and dropped his hand on Sam's shoulder. "She's got a point, Sam. Let it be, maybe some other time, you know?" Sam stared at Dean a moment and then nodded, leaning back and turning to watch Grace as she put the last of her things into her bag.

"Well, gentlemen, it's been interesting." Grace shook her head, smiled slightly. She pulled a small card out of her bag. "Here—if you have something urgent to ask me, or whatever." She waved a hand and shrugged. "I can be reached through email the easiest or the number if it's really urgent." She smiled politely.

Sam took the card with a nod and small smile obviously lost in thought. And with that Grace quickly stepped around the brothers and headed for the door only glancing back once to see the brothers talking low and furiously while Sam continued holding his hand to his chest. _Great looks like I made another 'friend,'_ she thought sarcastically to herself as she let the door close behind her.

Hopefully, she wouldn't see those two ever again!

_Well I was moving at the speed of sound.  
Head-spinning, couldn't find my way around, and  
Didn't know that I was going down.  
Yeah, yeah.  
Where I've been, well it's all a blur.  
What I was looking for, I'm not sure.  
Too late and didn't see it coming.  
Yeah, yeah.  
-Crashed, Chris Daughtry_


	2. Renegade

**Title: **Gen fic: More Than a Feeling Chapter 2: Renegade  
**Author**: Ghostwritermuse  
**Chapter Word Count:** 2,688  
**Chacaters/Pairings: **Dean, Sam, OFC (Grace)  
**Rating: **PG-13 (though later chapters may change upward)  
**A/N:** See Chpt 1 for the usual info.

**Chpt. Ummary/Note:** Chapter 2 takes place a few weeks after AHBL pt.2. This chapter, everything changes for Grace and she doesn't even see it coming.

* * *

_The jig is up the news is out they've finally found me  
The renegade who had it made retrieved for a bounty  
-Renegade, Styx_

**Location: Chicago, 2 months later**  
The phone rang twice before Grace could get it and she nearly dropped it when she finally did answer. "This is Grace," she said out of breath and a bit agitated.

"Grace, its Sam. Sam Winchester."

Grace's eyes widened a bit before she straightened herself and blinked back her surprise. "Sam? Wow, what a surprise I hadn't expected to hear from you."

Sam's laugh carried down the line and she found herself smiling slightly at the sound of it. "My brother and I were talking over some stuff and we'd really like to talk to you about it. So I was calling to see if you have a couple days."

"Well right now isn't a good time," Grace rolled her eyes and caught the book that slid from the table next to her. "I'm in the middle of a case right now Sam." Grace looked over her shoulder at the room she had been setting things up in for a banishing ritual and frowned. The books she had just placed on the table were now spread out on the floor and it looked as though several of the pages had been torn out. Damn it! I hate when they do that, she thought in frustration. "Look Sam," she said suddenly turning her thoughts back to the conversation. "I'm really sorry to be rude but I have to get back to something," she snapped her phone shut with a growl as her candles tipped from their holder and started to roll out toward the hallway.

"Really now! Enough of that," Grace said trying to find her patience and calm down once more so that she could set things back up and start over again.

Taking a calming and cleansing breath she stepped back over the threshold and into the library. Grace had been working on this case for two days now and finally managed to get the restless spirit holed up in the library, it was now time for the final step of banishment and then she could close the case. It was as standard a case as she ever had before the last month and a half and these days she was happy for anything simple. Word was all over the hunters' grapevine that the war was here and she'd been chasing a number of nasty things since then, things she'd never really had to deal with, only read about, and it was beginning to wear her down frankly. So when Tom had sent the message for a good old fashioned cleaning, Grace had jumped at it. It was nice to have something simple that could be easily classified, hunted down and then banished, even if it was annoying the hell out of her right at that moment, she wasn't complaining.

Shaking off all thoughts, Grace picked up her books, stacked them neatly within her circle this time and laid the candles back at the tips of the pentagram she had laid out in chalk on the floor. This ritual was as familiar as breathing to her and she smiled slightly as she stepped into the center of the circle and began to summon the energy and necessary protection around her. She had just begun to intone the first sentence of the banishment when she heard movement behind her, smiling she stayed where she was and continued chanting.

"What are you doing?" The voice behind her surprised Grace and she stopped, turning her head toward the doorway behind her.

"Ms. Patterson! What are you doing here?" Grace tried to keep her impatience down. One of her rules was that the homeowner stayed away for the duration of her work. It was for their own safety and as well as hers and Ms. Patterson had fully agreed and accepted this well before she started. Grace felt the hairs stand up on her arms as the woman smiled at her. Something's not right, she thought. The alarm bells were going off in Grace's mind as the lady moved slowly into the room; the eerie smile plastered to her face as she did.

"I asked what you are doing," Ms. Patterson asked again as she came to a stop just a couple steps from the protective circle.

"I thought we agreed from the start that you wouldn't be here during the cleansing and I'm still working on it. I'm nearly done so I need to ask that you leave, for your protection as well as mine," Grace tried to hold onto her calm and control as the situation seemed to spiral right down the pipe. Ms. Patterson gave a cold laugh at those words and Grace knew something had gone terribly wrong, something had changed and for the life of her she couldn't figure out what it was.

"Well dear, I'm not going anywhere because this is just too much fun. You know I've been watching you for a while now." Ms. Patterson began to take slow deliberate counter clock wise steps around the circle, always pacing several steps just outside of the salted edge. "Not just here but your other," she stopped and tapped a finger to her lips with a dark smile, "cases. That is what you hunters call them, right?" Her laugh echoed cold and malicious through the room as she stopped in front of Grace once more. "I like you Grace, you're much more fun then the other hunters I've met. I can't wait to play some more with you," Ms. Patterson's eyes rolled back in her head and then flashed yellow once before they returned to the familiar brown of Ms. Patterson's.

Grace knew then, this was a demon and not just some low level one either, she knew enough that black was the color of possession and yellow the sign of an upper level demon, and now she knew she was well and truly screwed. Quickly switching gears, Grace pulled the rosary from her pocket and stared at Ms. Patterson. "So tell me, do you have a name? I always like to know who I'm sending back to hell, makes for a better story later," Grace gave a flip smile and brought her hands together in prayer, the rosary hanging between her fingers swaying softly in time with the invocation she began.

"Oh, I have a lot of names but none you really need to know right now." The demon smirked at the invocation as it drifted toward her in the stillness of the room. "Oh really, is that all you've got?" she laughed darkly. "What would your parents say about this? Rather pathetic, you inside the circle, me out here and you're trying to exorcise me?" Ms. Patterson frowned shaking her head disappointedly. "This is rather amateur and I was really expecting more from you!"

Those words caught Grace off guard and she fumbled for a moment but she knew it was better not to continue talking to the demon. Shaking her head she focused her mind, letting her autopilot take over with the invocation of the exorcism rights and began to reach inside herself. She knew that the exorcism wasn't going to do much more then distract the demon. She had to come up with something more if she was going to have any chance of getting out of there; she just hoped the exorcism would distract it enough.

The demon had begun pacing the circle once more, continuing to taunt or at least thinking she was taunting Grace. "So tell me, do you think that boy you saved, you know the one I'm talking about," she laughed snidely. "You really think he's escaped what was planned for him? I admit, thanks to you, we had to make a few changes in plans but that's the way it goes some times. And you're belief in a greater good, ahh hallelujah pass the plate, oh sweetie do you have some surprises in store for you!"

The thought of Tom in danger sent a jolt through her and she fought the panic, No! Stay focused. Reorienting herself, Grace knew that she needed to pull from that strange inner core that had helped her out a couple times before in these recent weeks. Using the thought of a blue flame flickering to life in her mind she nurtured it, continuing the chant in one part of her brain while she focused her will, and all her being on the flame. Just as she was coming to end of the second verse of the invocation, the flame glowed brightly in her mind and she opened her eyes with a serene smile.

"Really, is that it? I have to say I'm really disappointed, I've had better exorcisms then that from bumbling little hunter boys, you didn't even hit me!" The demon stopped its pacing to pout at Grace.

"Oh that's not it. I was just waiting for you to finish talking. I do have manners after all." Grace gave a light laugh at that, looking down to her hands, one to the side wrapped by the rosary as the other opened and began to glow with a soft blue light.

Grace could feel the flame move to her hands, building more in the open space between her hands and she smiled brightly, this is so cool! Looking back up, she began to bring her hands together just as the demon looked backed up from her hands to her face and she smiled serenely at the demon. Grace drew her hands toward herself sharply and thrust them forward quickly along with a huge push from within.

The demon flew across the room, slamming into the wall and then sliding down as Grace stepped out of the protective circle and stalked toward the now slumped body. Just as Grace was about to reach down and thrust her still glowing hands towards the chest of the body, a scream erupted from it and the body arched up off the ground as thick dark smoke poured from out of Ms. Patterson's mouth. Grace fell back from the thick smoke and watched as it quickly made its way to the fireplace across the room and disappeared.

"DAMN!" Grace swore as she lay sprawled on the floor in surprise. "Great now where did it go?"

Standing, she looked down at Ms. Patterson and saw a slow rise and fall of breath and let out a relieved gasp of her own at that sign. "Sorry about that," Grace said quickly gathering her things back into her bag with several looks to the still unconscious woman. "I guess this wasn't anything like the simple case I thought it would be. Damn! I can't believe this!"

With the last of her things gathered, Grace quickly brought over a pillow and throw blanket, settling Ms. Patterson more comfortably before hurrying out the door and into her truck. Looking back toward the house, with the now setting sun turning everything into a fiery glow of orange and red she dropped her head against the headrest and sighed. "Shit! This is so not good!"

Pulling out her phone, she quickly dialed Thomas, tapping her fingers against the steering wheel impatiently as she waited and prayed for him to pick up, "Damn it Tom come on!! Pick up!" she fidgeted in the front seat and then let out a breath as he picked up.

"Hello," Thomas mumbled out sleepily.

"Tom! Thank god! Are you ok? Has anyone come around lately, anyone you don't know? Is anyone you do know acting funny?" she blurted out the questions quickly and found herself suddenly trying to think out how long it would take her to get to his place if she left that minute.

"Hey, hey slow down. Grace that you?" Tom finally managed to get a word in around the frantic questions.

"Yeah Tom, oh thank god you answered!"

"Ok hold on. You woke me up, what's going on? Are you still at the cleaning?" The sound of rustling fabric and a grunt that sounded like Tom was sitting up came through the line.

Grace took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Yeah I just got out of the house. Shit Tom, you don't know how close I came to not getting out!" Grace gave a shudder as the adrenaline started to slowly leave her and dropped her head back against the rest once more. "Tom that was no cleaning. I think it was a setup. Shit! Tom there was a demon behind it and it mentioned you and… Are you ok? Nothing weird in the last few days?"

"No, totally quiet Grace. A demon? You're sure?"

"Yeah totally and no there was no way that I could have mistaken it Tom." Grace sighed and reached for the key in the ignition. "I'm headed your way it's going to be about a day or so before I can get there and I'm dead tired but I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Wait! Grace no, there's no need for you to come all the way here. What's going on?"

"It mentioned you Tom. It, it mentioned," Graces voice shook as she fully took in what the demon had said about Tom. "Don't let anyone in! Stay behind your wards and for god's sake Tom be careful please!" Grace knew he could hear every bit of the worry in her voice, but for once she decided it was important enough not to hide it. She looked around carefully as she pulled out onto the street and headed back towards her hotel.

"Grace, what happened? Tell me!" Tom's agitation was clear in his voice and Grace fought her panic swallowing slowly.

"It knew who you were Tom and worse it knew all about Anthony too. It…" she stopped at the light and sighed. "It sounded like it knew something I didn't, something bad and Tom, it sounds like it was you. I can't let anything…" she stopped before she gave everything away with the complete fear and panic that even she could hear in her voice. She could get through this and she could keep anything bad from happening, after all hadn't she stopped it before. She was gifted and her blessing was Toms too. Letting out her breath slowly she turned onto the highway and nodded to herself quickly and firmly.

"Listen it's gonna be alright. The damn thing caught me off guard. I'm on my way though, so get the guest room ready ok," she gave a slightly shake laugh.

"Grace," Tom's worry was abating some from the sound of his voice but she could tell he still had a lot of questions for her.

"Look we'll talk more when I get there ok? In the meantime do what I said, please! Stay behind the wards as much as possible and don't go anywhere you don't have to."

"Yeah, of course I will Grace. Don't worry about me. Just," Tom paused and she could feel the moment of panic and worry hanging in the silence between them. "What are we going to do about this? What is it and are you-"

"Don't even! Look, I think I know someone who might be able to answer some questions about this demon. I'm calling them next, so by the time I get there we should be able to start planning. Look I'm sorry I freaked out on you. Just try to get some sleep and stay safe for me. Ok?"

Tom breathed slow and steady for a moment. "Yeah, you know I will. I'll see ya' in a couple days," and then he clicked off.

Grace gave a heavy sigh and saw the exit for her hotel, taking it, she ended the call and dropped the phone next to her. As she pulled to a stop in front of her room, Grace picked up her phone once more and found the last call and hit send. Looks like I'm going to have to talk to the Winchesters after all, she frowned to herself as she waited for the call to go through and someone to pick up.

_But I feel I'm growing older  
And the songs that I have sung  
Echo in the distance  
Like the sound  
Of a windmill goin' 'round  
I guess I'll always be...  
A soldier of fortune  
-Soldier of Fortune, Deep Purple_


End file.
